Category: Viral

For a long time, the term “action star” felt reserved for the brawniest of Hollywood’s ranks.

An action star was Dwayne Johnson, barreling bad guys through brick walls or Tom Cruise scrambling to grab hold to the outside of a plane during takeoff. It was Tom Hardy mounted on the front a beat-up car in the midst of a high-speed car chase through a waterless wasteland. It was Chris Evans topping elevator mosh pits or Ryan Reynolds “Schooping” his way through the bloodshed on a busy freeway.

Action stars were mostly men, muscled like Popeye, with few emotions and even fewer qualms about killing people.

And they still are, for the most part. The fights have gotten more inventive, the explosions bigger, the tank tops tighter, but action stars, by and large, still resemble this idealized version of masculinity we can’t seem to shake – protein-powdered, muted meatheads who let their bodies do the talking, who measure their bravado by the number of faceless villains they beat up on screen.

We’re big fans.

No really, that kind of mindless, adrenaline-fueled entertainment is awe-inspiring. It’s one of the best things film has to offer but, as with everything, variety is the spice and it’s time we livened up this boy’s club by introducing a new member.

Enter: Charlize Theron.

Now look, we’re not just worshipping at her kickass altar because she’s so good at … well, kicking ass. Theron has been quietly reshaping the action genre for years, introducing complicated heroines (and anti-heroines) that continuously challenge what we previously though an action star looked like.

A stay-at-home housewife with God-like abilities. A villainous mission-director exploring an alien planet. An evil queen, a disillusioned spy, a war captain gone rogue. Theron embodies them all, wielding her talent for easily traversing genres, infusing her fight scenes with a dogged commitment to showing that yes, women can be warriors and mercenaries and bruisers too.

She proves this best with Atomic Blonde — arguably one of the best action flicks in recent memory – playing top-level MI6 operative Lorraine Broughton. In many ways, Atomic Blonde was Theron’s John Wick entry. Her character, like the Keanu Reeves figure, suffers a terrible loss and must complete a mission in order to get revenge. But unlike Wick, motivated by personal struggles, Lorraine is never what she seems — a chameleon who changes form to survive, who uses her sexuality to extract the information she needs, who almost dispassionately views those closest to her as pawns in a larger game. She tough and cold and regularly beaten and bruised in service of something greater than herself which might paint her as a hero of sorts, but her methods for getting the job done are often colored in shades of grey.

Of course, she also unleashes hell on her enemies — a vital component when crafting a bona fire action star — so on top of creating a layered female protagonist with nuanced motivations and murky loyalties, Theron also sacrificed her body for the role, famously working with eight trainers to log in the man-hours needed to sell those epic fight sequences. Broken ribs and cracked teeth were sacrificed in the name of the film’s stylish apartment melee that saw her harness a firehose like Indiana Jones’ signature whip and that savage stairwell faceoff where she absorbed blows and paid them back in kind to two KGB agents. That scene felt viscerally real and cinematically breathtaking because Theron could take a punch, something so many male action stars still seem reticent to do. She suffered, she lagged, she bled and moaned and clawed her way to victory despite being outmatched and outgunned. It was an earned win in a dog-eat-dog fight which is why it still feels seared onto our brains years later while smoothed-out, CGI-powered battles and car chases fade to black.

That gritty, authentic approach to filming action scenes might’ve been inspired by her work on George Miller’s iconic piece of dystopian art, Mad Max: Fury Road. Shaved, dismembered, charged with committing atrocities in the name of a power-hungry tyrant, Theron certainly didn’t look the part of an action hero in Fury Road but it was her Furiosa, not Hardy’s Max, that the film revolved around. Instead of highlighting a broken man’s need for redemption, Miller focused on a hardened woman still clinging to the hope of creating a better world. She risks life and limb for that vision, selflessly sacrificing herself for others, tapping into maternal bonds one moment, expertly-wielding a sniper rifle the next.

It was Theron who influenced her signature androgynous look and who insisted on bulking up her upper body in order to contend with Hardy’s physique. She put in work, grueling work, 15-hours a day work to bring Furiosa to life, but Miller often cites her vulnerability as the driving force behind the action of the film. We wouldn’t have rig chases and War Boy parades and desert-crossing escape plans without the motivating force of Furiosa and, by extension, Theron who had to make her character’s emotional journey just as believable as her physical one.

Perhaps that’s what sets her apart from typical action figures: her undeniable ability to take what’s on the page and channel it to the screen. She can act. Like really, act, not riff against comedic sidekicks or mumble taglines behind the wheel of a souped-up speedster or silently brood after slaying a nightclub’s worth of martial-arts experts. There’s a story she’s telling through the increasingly risk-taking stunts she wants to pull off. It’s there in The Old Guard, Netflix’s latest “blockbuster,” where she helps director Gina Prince-Bythewood transform the stale comic book origins plot into something fresh and exciting — a lament about the consequences of immortality and the downsides of being a “hero.” Theron’s Andy is bitter and exhausted with the hand fate has dealt her, but she’s still willing to gamble her existence on the belief she can do some good in the world — like saving a group of kidnapped school children or mentoring a confused and angry ex-Marine. She accomplishes one of the hardest things in life — the task of finding belief once you’ve lost it. And yes, she chops down special teams with her ancient ax in the process.

Charlize Theron is a different breed of action star and the characters she’s beginning to gravitate towards have the ability to revolutionize the genre if we’ll just start paying attention.

Even in a “normal” year, this past weekend would be considered an exceptionally good weekend for new movies. In no particular order: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, and J.K. Simmons being utterly delightful in Palm Springs; First Cow, the best movie of the year (imo); Tom Hanks in Peak Dad Mode in Greyhound; Charlize Theron as an immortal warrior in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Old Guard; and future Best Original Screenplay winner Money Plane, starring Money Plane as Money Plane. There was also an indie horror movie that didn’t receive as much attention as, say, Kelsey Grammer calling himself the “baddest mother f*cker on the planet,” which, fair, but it’s still worth a rental.

Relic follows Kay (played by Emily Mortimer, a.k.a. “I have hollow bones, like a bird” from 30 Rock), who, along with her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote), travels from Melbourne to rural Australia to check in on her elderly mother Edna (Robyn Nevin), only to discover that she hasn’t been seen or heard from in days. The mystery isn’t whether Kay’s mother/Sam’s grandmother will come back — that’s settled quickly; the real question is where she’s been and why her body is covered in a black bruise that resembles the mold that’s spreading throughout her house. Not to get all They Came Together on you, but in Relic, it’s almost like the house is another character in the movie. It’s a gorgeous dwelling, surrounded by woods and a small shack on the grounds, but it’s also rotting from the inside with small thumps heard within walls in cluttered rooms. It’s unsettling.

Director Natalie Erika James, who developed the script with co-writer Christian White, conceived Relic from “a personal place but taken to the highest supernatural extreme.” Her grandmother “had Alzheimer’s for some time. It was definitely drawing on things that I observed in her, feelings of guilt about not seeing her more often which probably led to the shift in dynamic within the family.” That’s clear in her film, which tells an old-fashioned haunted house story while slowly revealing the fractured dynamics between the three generations of women, including Edna and Sam after she proposes to live with her grandmother, only for the family matriarch to forget about the offer and violently accuse her granddaughter of stealing from her. And that’s before we follow Edna as she travels into the woods to eat family photos and bury the remaining memories in the ground to protect them from something within the house. There’s an obvious metaphor at play in Relic (my “I see what’s happening here” moment came about midway through), but it doesn’t take away from the pervasive creepiness of the film. Especially during the tender-if-disturbing climax, which will stick with you for some time.

Not everything about the film works (it’s occasionally too slow), but that unsettling feeling, of pure dread and that around every corner of the house lies something nightmarish, is what Relic does better than any other horror movie I’ve seen so far this year. There are no cheap jump scares or murderous clowns. The tension comes from every creak of the labyrinthine house, every bump and scrap and fingernail scratches on the door, and watching a loved one suffering from dementia forget themselves and those closest to them. Relic is genuinely unnerving because it understands something many other horror movies don’t: that there’s nothing scarier than the human mind.

Relic is available via VOD now. Watch the trailer below.

Joining the long list of artists who have resorted to livestreams in order to entertain their fans in the midst of this quarantine, Angel Olsen and Hand Habits took to the Masonic Temple in Asheville, North Carolina for a livestream performance. The sets served as the second installation in Angel Olsen’s Cosmic Stream livestream series, one that she started last month as a way to raise donations for the YMCA Ashville. Bringing Hand Habits along for the latest performance, the two decided to honor Tom Petty and cover one of his classic songs.

Taking the stage together at the Masonic Temple, Olsen and Hand Habits delivered a heavenly cover of Tom Petty’s “Walls.” The track comes from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1996 album, Songs and Music from the Motion Picture ‘She’s the One’, a companion to the Edward Burns film. Supported by a calming backdrop, which set the mood for the performance, Olsen and Hand Habits beautifully delivered the song as Hand Habits’ accentuated the song with a gentle acoustic guitar.

The livestream performance comes shortly after both Olsen and Hand Habits recently shared new content with fans. Last month Olson tapped Mark Ronson for a pulsing remix of her “New Love Cassette” track while Hand Habits joined Christian Lee Hutson, Phoebe Bridgers, and Conor Oberst for Hutson’s “Get The Old Band Back Together” video.

Watch the performance in the video above.

Over the past week, a number of social media theories have surfaced centered around Britney Spears and her conservatorship. Spears was placed under conservatorship back in 2008 after having multiple public breakdowns the year before, which included her shaving her hair and attacking the paparazzi. The incidents resulted in her father requesting conservatorship in 2008, a request that was made permanent in 2009.

According to Newsweek, under Britney’s conservatorship her father Jamie Spears has the power to “negotiate business on his daughter’s behalf, sell her property, file restraining orders, handling health care and restricting some from visiting her.” Her father has admitted that his relationship with his daughter “has always been strained” as he said in an interview with US Weekly. Over the years, fans have expressed their concern for Britney, as a part of the #FreeBritney movement, under the conservatorship order and in the past weeks, concern has turned into some wild theories sparked by a few social media posts she had made.

Theories began after Britney shared a post of her happily showing off a new floral dress, but the video and its caption seemed to serve more as a worry for fans rather than entertain. “HOLY HOLY CRAP !!!!!! My florist surprised me today by making the flower arrangement all different colors,” she said in the caption. “I was so excited I threw on my favorite yellow shirt and just had to SHARE.” One fan pointed out that in the video posted prior to the floral dress video, Britney was told to “wear yellow in your next video” if she was seeking help. The floral dress she wore in the following video was indeed yellow, causing the fan to be extremely concerned.

Another fan pointed out that another Instagram post seemed to reference Arundhati Roy’s debut novel, The God Of Small Things. This Instagram post’s caption was “She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes.” The post from the fan explains the main character from the novel would get a wild look in her eyes “when the radio played ‘her music’.”

Those around Britney have refuted claims that the pop singer is in any type of danger as a result of the conservatorship. Larry Rudolph, who manages Spears, spoke to The Washington Post in May 2019 saying the order “is not a jail. It helps Britney make business decisions and manage her life in ways she can’t do on her own right now.” When Britney checked into a mental-health facility last year, she asked fans to not “believe everything you read and hear.” “Your love and dedication is amazing,” she said, “but what I need right now is a little bit of privacy to deal with all the hard things that life is throwing my way.”

As for her conservatorship, the order renewed and extended until August 22 where another hearing will take place to decide its future.

Four years after Amber Heard and Johnny Depp filed for divorce (and five years after their wedding), The Rum Diary co-stars are embroiled in a libel suit (filed by Depp) against a British tabloid, The Sun. Central to the case is an April 2018 article that labeled Depp as a “wife-beater.” For his part, Depp has strenuously denied that he ever abused Amber Heard during their relationship, although allegations to that effect were made by Heard (who submitted photos to secure a 2016 restraining order) and backed up by Depp’s former managers. No criminal charges were ever filed, and the pair settled their divorce in 2016.

Fast forward to the present (in the heat of a pandemic), and both Depp and Heard are appearing in a U.K. court for a scheduled three weeks of proceedings. The forum’s not too surprising. The libel laws are a lot stricter across the pond than in the U.S., so plaintiffs are more likely to prevail there, rather than here, since the burden of proof rests upon the defendant, which puts publications at a disadvantage. A plaintiff has a pretty good case at prevailing if “serious harm” will come from a defamatory statement. In Depp’s case, his attorneys state that he’s not in this lawsuit for the money but, instead, seeks “to clear his reputation” from potentially irreparable harm and desires “vindication.”

English law holds that libel suit defendants — in this case, The Sun‘s publisher, News Group Newspapers, and executive editor Dan Wootton — are working against the presumption that the allegation in question (that Depp guilty of domestic abuse) is false. Therefore, the defendants must prove that the allegation is true in order to prevail (which is a reversal of the U.S. standard).

Of course, coverage of the trial has reflected quite a circus. No matter how it shakes out, here are the most outlandish things (presented as evidence, although some of it doesn’t revolve around abuse) that have been revealed so far:

– The Missing Half-Billion (At Least) Dollars: This part of the story actually doesn’t source from the trial, but it’s worth mentioning here for the circus-related (not abuse-related) aspect. In a recent, bizarre Rolling Stone profile, Depp admitted to making $650 million from movies and still somehow being in debt. He’s blaming his ex-managers, although tax-payment issues and exorbitant expenditures from Depp (no doubt) contributed to the issue. He seemed proud of his spending and made the following boasts: (1) “It’s insulting to say that I spent $30,000 [per month] on wine. Because it was far more”; (2) “By the way, it was not $3 million to shoot Hunter [S. Thompson] into the f*cking sky [at his funeral]. It was $5 million.”

Whether or not Depp was serious with the above claims, who really knows? During the trial, he’s also repeatedly acknowledged his substance abuse (drug and alcohol issues) while, again, denying spousal abuse. Now, onto those other revelations.

– Those “Porky Pies”: Alas, Depp was not talking about delicious cuisine here. Instead, he was responding to medical notes from Amber Heard’s doctor, who wrote (after diagnosing her with anxiety) that Depp felt threatened by romantic acting scenes she did with James Franco and also “romanticises the entire drug culture and has no accountability for his behaviour.” In response to the court, Depp accused his ex-wife of lies: “I think she was telling porky pies with her psychiatrist.”

– The Poo In the Bed: Depp told the court that he had decided to end his marriage with Heard after much animosity but because of one overriding occurrence — finding poop in their marital bed. He alleges that Amber did the deed (she denies this claim), rather than one of her two terriers (Pistol and Boo), and a housekeeper submitted photos to the court in support of Depp’s claim. She further alleged that there was “a large pile of feces” in the bed. The housekeeper stated, “It was clear to me that this was human feces … could not have come from either of Mr. Depp’s or Ms. Heard’s two small dogs.” There are photos of the “pile” at Page Six, if you are so inclined to see for yourself.

– Alleged Animal Abuse “Jokes”: The court heard that Depp “joked” that he would put one of Heard’s dogs in the microwave. According to a former assistant for the couple and Heard’s sister, Depp also laughingly dangled one of the dogs out a moving vehicle’s window while making “howling noises.” As a lawyer for The Sun asserted, “You were smoking and you opened the window and you were angry and you were aggressive, rather like you were in that clip we saw yesterday — the monster side of your character. And you took hold of Pistol and you held her out of the window.” Depp denies that the car-dangling incident occurred.

– The Ice Cream Debacle: A photo, which was taken by Heard and submitted as evidence and can be seen here, doesn’t look fantastic. The 2014 image shows Depp sleeping (while sitting up) with his mouth hanging wide open and a container of spilled ice cream dripping all over his leg. In regards to the photo, Depp claimed that he was suffering from exhaustion (from work and while weaning off prescription medication), and he stated that Amber had allegedly goaded him over the photo: “Look at what you’ve become … look at you, it’s pathetic.”

– The “Haymaker”: Depp alleges that Heard was, in fact, the instigator and abuser in their marriage. While making the claim, he told the court that Heard had grown greatly upset about him “ruining” one of her birthday dinners. She allegedly punched him, and as Depp explained to the judge, “A haymaker is a type of a wild swing, a roundhouse punch … effective if it reaches the target.” The judge replied, “I have come across it.”

– The Honeymoon Incident: One of Heard’s diary entries (sourcing from their 2015 honeymoon) surfaced in court. While on a train in Southeast Asia, Heard alleges, the two had a “terrible” fight, in which Johnny “at one point found himself with his shirt wrapped around my neck.” Heard wrote that she woke up with a bump on her head, but that the two “fell asleep with one another smashed together in desperate, childlike anger, fear and love.” Depp’s security guard told the court that he didn’t witness the alleged fight (though he wasn’t in the cabin overnight with the pair), and that he “wouldn’t tolerate any man striking a woman.”

– Other Depp-Employee Weigh-Ins: One of Depp’s estate managers testified that Heard “was the aggressor in the relationship” and shouted at him during a violent clash that he was “washed up” and “fat.” Depp and Heard’s former hairstylist testified that Heard had falsely claimed to have appeared on James Corden’s The Late Late Show while sporting “two black eyes” in 2015. The hairstylist insisted that Heard “had been visibly uninjured throughout the day and at that moment.’”

– Depp’s Bloodied, Mangled Finger: It’s not up for debate that, in 2015, Depp visited a hospital after the tip of his finger was sliced off. At the time, Depp reportedly blamed himself for the injury, but his bodyguard told the court that Depp had told him, “She’s just cut my finger off,” and that he’d publicly backed up Depp’s initial assertion that the injury was a self-inflicted one. However, Depp now maintains that Heard had caused the injury while throwing a vodka bottle at her then-husband. In court, Depp admitted scrawling on a mirror with his bloodied finger. He apparently wrote, “I love you,” while Heard alleged that the incident occurred within a “three-day ordeal of physical assault” by her then-husband, who she claims was mixing ecstasy pills and alcohol while accusing her of sleeping with co-star Billy Bob Thornton.

This trial — which will continue for at least one more week — isn’t the first time that evidence of alleged abuse (from either side of the marriage) or photos of an apparently inebriated Depp (or a drunken Depp presenting an award) have surfaced. However, Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder have both provided witness statements to the court to back up Depp and state that they never witnessed abusive behavior from him during their relationships with the Pirates of the Caribbean star.

It’s also worth revisiting the below incident that surfaced years ago, both for the footage and for Depp’s response:

– The 2016 Footage: In a video posted at TMZ, Depp appears go berzerk in his kitchen, as recorded by Heard. The footage shows Depp kicking various objects and slamming cabinets before smashing a glass and emptying a wine bottle. At one point, he also says, “You want to see crazy, I’ll show you something crazy.” Then he notices the camera, a scuffle of sorts ensues, and the footage ended. At the time, Depp’s representatives claimed that the footage was “heavily edited” and “a complete setup.”

Earlier today the photo below of a smiling, thumbs-up-flashing President Trump sitting at his desk in the Oval Office with Goya products laid out in front of him was posted to his Instagram account.

The photo was an obvious response to the calls for boycotts of Goya products after the company’s CEO expressed support for Trump, saying that America is “blessed to have a leader” like Trump. Lots of people were awe-struck by the photo, many initially not even believing that it was real, like it were a Photoshop or something from The Onion. But, nope, it’s real (because of course it is), and no one may be more upset about it than CNN’s Chris Cuomo, who opened his show tonight by blasting the president for promoting a brand from the Oval Office in the middle of a pandemic that’s ravaging the nation.

“You tell me how a president in the middle of a pandemic has got time for this bullshit. Are you kidding me?! Hocking products…marketing for a brand following calls for boycotts after Goya’s CEO heaped praise on Trump last week. On your dime, in the middle of a pandemic, they’re selling beans? Are you kidding me? Seriously!”

Here’s the full segment clip below:

https://twitter.com/CuomoPrimeTime/status/1283571131065212930

After mostly staying quiet since announcing his upcoming album back in November, J. Cole returned with his controversial single “Snow On Tha Bluff” last month. It seemed like more was in store for Cole, or at least that’s what since fellow Dreamville rapper and one-half of Earthgang, Olu had suggested. “Cole album is coming. It’s in [US] Customs [And Border Protection] right now,” Olu said on Instagram Live. “Cole album gotta get through Customs ’cause you know, corona.” Sadly, Cole’s manager has stepped in to shut down those rumors.

Dreamville’s co-founder Ibrahim “Ib” Hamad took to Twitter to clarify that words of a new Cole album was nothing more than he joke. “Just to clarify, There is no Cole album coming out soon and There is no Cole interview coming up,” he wrote. “Y’all be taking these IG live jokes people make too far lol. Usually I would of let y’all rock with the rumors but people really been hitting my phone too much about this.”

The interview he mentions refer to a rumor that Cole would be the next guest on Lil Wayne’s Young Money Radio show. On the bright side, if fans are looking for more music from the Dreamville camp, Olu revealed that in a few weeks fans would be able to hear new songs from both Earthgang and his side project, Spillage Village.

Jalen Green made waves back in April when the 5-star prospect announced he would be the first major prospect to join the NBA G League’s Select team, which will offer prospects an opportunity to make up to $500,000 by forgoing college and beginning their pro careers immediately after high school.

While that has not set off a domino effect of top players decommitting from colleges to jump at the chance to go the G League route, it has opened up an alternative pathway from college that requires players to, at the very least, seriously consider the pros and cons of both. On Wednesday, after some rumblings about this potential for some time, Adam Zagoria of Forbes and the New York Times reported Jonathan Kuminga, the top-ranked prospect in the Class of 2020 on the 247 Sports Composite Rankings after reclassifying to 2020 earlier this summer, will join Green in the G League next season and skip college.

That decision was confirmed quickly by Shams Charania of The Athletic, who had Kuminga on an Instagram Live.

Kuminga is expected to be one of the top picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, as the 6’8 small forward has spectacular athleticism and skill — for an in depth look at his game, please read Brian Schroeder’s deep dive into him as a prospect.

He is set to officially make his announcement on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET, and with Kuminga on board, the Select team will have plenty of attention on it whenever the G League is able to restart next season.

NASCAR’s Cup Series headed to Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday night for its All-Star Race, and before the festivities got underway they had the All-Star Open, where three drivers had the chance to race their way into the 20-car field for the main event and race for the $1 million prize — with another driver earning their way in with a fan vote.

Among those looking to race their way into the All-Star Race was Bubba Wallace, but early on he got into it with Michael McDowell in the No. 34 car. The two were bumping and shoving, as they’re wont to do at Bristol, but after Wallace got by McDowell, the 34 turned down into the 43’s right rear quarterpanel and sent Wallace spinning into the wall, ending his night.

Wallace was, let’s just say, less than thrilled by this maneuver and made sure to make those feelings known in his interview after being released from the infield care center, calling McDowell “a joke” as he watched a replay of the wreck.

Bubba wasn’t done with that little post-race promo, either, as he went back to the garage to check out his crumpled up Chevy. Wallace decided to make sure McDowell knew all about how he was feeling by taking his bumper that had fallen off in the wreck and carrying it over to the 34 hauler, where he’d leave it as a reminder to McDowell of what he did.

Wallace has been the most talked about driver in NASCAR for the last month-plus, as he’s the sport’s lone Black driver and has used his voice to amplify the Black Lives Matter movement and enact change in NASCAR. In a sport that has long been anything but progressive, that’s ruffled plenty of feathers among the fan base, but ironically, Wallace might be the closest thing to the old school drivers that group loved on the track and off of it, in terms of wearing his heart on his sleeve (remember when he rage quit an iRacing event?) and never being afraid to tell other drivers how he feels about them.

News broke Wednesday morning that Atlanta trio Migos filed a lawsuit against their attorney after the group was cheated out of “millions of dollars.” The lawsuit cites a conflict of interest between Migos and their attorney Damien Granderson, who also represents Migos’ label, Quality Control Music. According to a report from Variety, the group says the attorney “abused his position of trust as Migos’ fiduciary from the moment he was retained as Migos’ lawyer.”Quality Control’s CEO Pierre “Pee” Thomas responded to the lawsuit, which accuses him of professional malpractice and unjust enrichment, by sending out a lengthy Instagram post.

The post features a screenshot of a headline that reads, “The hip hop trip was ‘cheated out of millions of dollars’ through excessive commission and bad deals.” Pee Thomas offered his response by criticizing the group for the lawsuit and its timing, as it arrives just days after the tragic death of rapper Marlo, who was signed to the label.

It is unfortunate that the same people that we have worked hard for, provided opportunities for, and championed for are now alleging that we have participated in any kind of immoral or unfair business practices or took advantage of them and their careers, especially while we are dealing with the death of an artist on our label that was dear to us.

Elsewhere in his statement, Thomas emphasized his stance alongside the Quality Control Music label, refusing to allow the accusations to be “tarnished by allegations of unfair and unjust business practices.”

It is hard enough to be fighting and battling with corporations and the powers that be, I am not doing it with those who I consider family. I love my artists and I love my team. Everyone has their own lawyers. I understand in this business that you are not always going to end with the people you started with. I say that to say, I am not forcing anybody to be in business with us that has a problem and cannot communicate and does not want to work as a unit. Everything is negotiable. I wish my whole team more money, more blessings, and continued success.

As for the lawsuit, Migos have yet to reveal the exact dollar amount they seek to recompense their lost income.

Check out the Instagram post above to read Pee Thomas’ full response.